Matt Tieger of High Moon Studios recently sat down with the Game Central reporters of the UK Metro news site. This great and insightful interview touches on a fair few story and gameplay aspects for Transformers Fall of Cybertron, and addresses how Matt and the High Moon Studios team have really taken a step back and examined how they can take War for Cybertron and make it even better for this sequel. Check out the full interview on Metro’s site here.
Key points of the interview include:
– Shockwave is the creator of both the Insecticons and the Dinobots. He’s a mad scientist and by all accounts major villain in this game.
– Grimlock is not like the original Generation 1 cartoon Grimlock – he doesn’t go around shouting Me Grimlock smash all the time. He does have a reason for his speech impediment given in game.
– Gameplay wise, Grimlock cannot transform at will, instead accumulating rage as he defeats opponents. Once he gains enough rage, he can transform and cut loose. In robot mode, Grimlock fights with his sword, he’s a sword and shield guy, no long range weapons – if he needs to fight at a distance, he picks up and throws things – including enemies.
– Matt Tieger says originally, Grimlock was not in Hasbro’s Aligned Continuity. His part in the game owes a lot to the team campaigning hard to get him in there!
– Bruticus is confirmed as a playable character – it’s said to be the part of the game where you feel the most powerful.
– Vortex is another character who is confirmed to be playable. He’s on a level described as a giant climbing frame, with the option there for players to tackle the level mostly as a robot, mostly as a vehicle, or anywhere in between.
– Lastly a word on the campaign. This time out, the game is more of a “Cybertron story” with the first and third acts being Autobot centric, and the middle one being Decepticon centric, although by the sounds of it, there’s less of a rigid “this is a block of Autobot missions, and these are a block of Decepticon missions” this go round.
That’s just a summary of the key points that this fan found interesting! For the full review (it’s quite the read!) head on over to view the original article on Metro.
kaijuguy19
You're right. As much as I do enjoy Transformer Prime arguing about it with people who bash the show even if they are wrong in their opinons isn't going to make it much fun for long. I guess it's a habit I'm still struggling to let go of when it comes to stuff like this.
I agree. We should instead be talking about the interview of one of the creators who making a great game that some people who have diffrerent opinons about the franchise can both agree on! After all life's is short and it's way better to spen it on things that you like!
YoungPrime
“Stressing” was a relative term not meant to be taken so literally. But if this is your only argument at this point then have fun with it.
If my signature or avatar aren’t evidence of me having “fun” with this franchise then the defense can rest knowing that It’s quite ironic listening to a guy dismiss the TF franchise as just a “20 minute toy commercial” while chastising me for “putting down” some of its outlets….
But for the record, I’m retracting that “Drooling Idiot” comment I initially made. And I sincerely apologize if it offended anyone in particular. It really wasn’t necessary to prove my point.
But the rest of what I stated stands. Especially when people are resorting to lecturing me on sticking to the threads topic while quoting paragraphs of me doing so….
Joalro
Let's take a step back here and realize what we are discussing. We are arguing about a sequel to a remake to a retcon to a tv series based on hasbro toys that were remade from various japanese companies. And here we have a "fierce" debate as to what is crap and what is not.
If you are taking this series more seriously than "I'm having fun with it" then you really need to re examine something here. I'm pretty sure most people on this forum are here because they find transformers fun. This isn't a series that started off with strong plot, character development, or anything more complex than 20 minute advertisements for toys.
Not to devalue the transformers franchise as I like it very much, I find it fun, but my frustration comes form when people start devaluing each other based on which version of toy commercials they liked best! Get some perspective here! It's fine you like WFC. If you like that best and think the others are crap, that's fine. If you are literally "stressing" about it, as you suggested, then you might want to take a break. This isn't supposed to be stressful. It's supposed to be fun. You are throwing out blind criticisms of what other people like (some valid, some not), and honestly, that's not cool. Cause if you take the fun out of transformers.. then what the hell do we have left? These are toys! TOYS! Most of us are adults playing with toys! And if you are really taking this so seriously that you have to lower anything you don't like, then you might want to switch franchises. There are plenty of gaming forums that thrive on people taking things to seriously. Go check them out.
This applies to other people as well. Kaijuboy for example, if someone doesn't like transformers prime, just ignore it. Otherwise you are loosing your fun for the franchise and turning it into a stressful argument. Remember, criticisms of it (even if they are invalid) don't need to take away your personal enjoyment of the series.
Now please, end this discussion of "movie/books/games/prime: good or bad?", as it would be much more interesting if we actually discussed the interview itself. We now know everyone's opinions of these and do not need to insult each other any more.
YoungPrime
HELLO!!!!
WFC is a 3rd person shooter not an RPG…. There was only so much High Moon could add to the history of TF lore, especially with Hasbro trying sync the continuities of two other outlets with it in the middle of production.
So “Meh” indeed…
I mean is it necessary to throw “Dream Wave” in my face when I’ve never shown any real interest in any of those books to begin with….? (so I guess you guys are cheating now LOL!)
It’s amazing how people grasp at straws in order to vindicate their loyalty for a movie, cartoon or book that has obvious flaws. So it’s “Oh yeah well G1 ..blah, blah, blah!” Who cares?
If nothing else Matt Teiger understands what people like me have been stressing for the most part. The end result may not be perfect but so what. For me it’s a step in the right direction. So if you like the books the movies and those new cartoons. Fine, I still think there’s room for a TF Line that the grownups can enjoy. And if some of you guys don't want that then who's being selfish?
Kungfu Dinobot
Meh, the whole thing reeks of hypocrisy to me.WFC doesn't even have that great a plot. I mean, it's all "Rah!Decepticons smash!" and then the Autobots go around trying to fix things up. Oh, and one guy dies at the end, and then there's a big boss fight. Hooray for indepth, complicated plot
But if you prefer War For Cybertron simply because you are a fan of the Dreamwave house-style (AKA the Funana style), who am I to change you?
SouthtownKid
I kind of wish they could reboot the novels. We only have two so far… Just rewrite (and restructure) them to bring them more in line with what they are meant to be. There shouldn't be such huge continuity tangles and contradictions between the supposedly connected pieces of fiction right out of the gate.
YoungPrime
Did Irving get canned as author of these novels by Hasbro or not? Sure we can speculate on if it was due to the direction of these books or a lack in sales. But the fact is “HE IS GONE!”
Fact: Bay say that he wasn’t happy with the way Bayformers2 turned out which is in compliance with all of the critics who slammed this movie.
Now what part about this or Irving's "EXILE" is “questionable?” It’s like some of you love jumping from one foot to the other. There’s obviously flaws in all of these outlets yet for some reason it’s wrong to speak on them because somebody out there may like the flaws….?
What ever… They can read off bayformer’s dialog during their wedding vows for all I care.
Let’s not lose focus, I commend Matt Teiger for giving us a great interview that touches on a lot of the issues that I’ve spoken of for years now. Hell, even the interviewer seem to have the same gripes with Bayformers for that matter.
So here’s to a positive future.
kaijuguy19
People know Bay's not God. And they also know his works aren't perfect.
No one's acuusing you of making your talks a me thing. We're just saying that if you don't like the books that's fine but Hasbro allowed Irving to do another book,and all the facts you claim to have are a bit questionable.
YoungPrime
Yeah, when in doubt, simply dismiss the criticism no matter how valid it is as a bunch of complainer's who don't like anything because Bay is God and nothing he directs ever stinks…. not even when he says it does.
And as for Irving, the proof is in the pudding. Obviously Hasbro didn't like the pacing either so stop making this a "me" thing because it's clear that I'm not the only one who felt this way about his work.
SouthtownKid
You can say it. You can say something never happened in G1 if it didn't occur in any of the multiple media that made up G1. Easy. Simple.
bellpeppers
Quite simple:
It starts out as yet another G1 continuity, and somewhere along its timeline it becomes PRIME. (they just have to explain the drastic visual changes.)
Theoretically, that event could go different and spawn a yet different continuity.
Just remember: you can't say that smething never happened in G1; G1 is only a semantic that referred to multiple media that had NOTHING to do with each other save the characters and their likeness.
Anguirus
My sniff test for whether it makes any sense to call it G1 is to compare it to G2.
In every way, G2 is radically more similar to G1 than Prime is to G1. Since G2 is defined as being not-G1…
Or, you could go by the Beast Wars/fanon timeline, which lets G1, G2, and Beast Wars all be part of the same timeline, or universe. It's fair to call that G1 as well, perhaps "G1 inclusive."
IDW and Dreamwave step outside that timeline, but are still telling stories about the run of toys that existed mostly before Generation 2, what we now call Generation 1. So they are alt-G1s.
WfC uses very "G1-like" character models, and as bellpepper says, it's very likely that the game designers think of themselves as filling in the G1 backstory. However, it contradicts every current G1 backstory, so you have another alternate timeline at least. Then, Prime comes along and presents a backstory, as did Exodus. The stories in WfC, Exodus, and Prime are all more similar to each other than any of them are to any other official Transformers backstory. WfC and Prime[/i[ have different art styles, while Exodus has none. An assortment of other minor details prohibits them from, strictly speaking, inhabiting the same continuity or timeline. But of course this is nothing new…for instance, every movie novelization logically precludes the events of its corresponding movie dozens of times. (If this point is not clear to you, than tell me…was Crankcase killed by Dutch or by Ironhide? Is Megatron alive or dead?)
I don't think any of this is in dispute. However, the reasoning that extrapolates from all this that Prime is in any meaningful sense a "Generation One" story is entirely opaque to me. The statement may or may not be intended as satire, but either way it doesn't work for me.
From what I recall of interviews at the time, WfC and Exodus were both intended by their authors to serve as the backstory of the film universe, the original cartoon, or Prime, with a little shoving and twisting. Exiles is more of a Prime tie-in book while also being the sequel to Exodus, thanks to Makeshift and Bulkhead. FfC, uh, well, they threw Prime Cliffjumper's head in there and went ahead and did their own thing after that.
Kungfu Dinobot
Ironically, he hates Michael Bay's fast-paced action
kaijuguy19
Just because you didn't like how the book were done doesn't make it automaticly bad for other people. There may be people who want to see something slow paced and calm for a while and having the Transformers do nothing but fight and that's gets boring too. Some people have different tastes in different brands of the franchise that doesn't make them automaticlly bad by default.
Rexidus
Yay, continuity arguments!
Infosaur
"Grimlock doesn't have a ranged attack, he just picks up enemies and throws them"
Heh heh,,, heheheh, heheheheheh,,,,mmmmhahahah,,,mwah-ha-ha,,,BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
YoungPrime
Mythos huh….? And how's that going for him?
In the last book the Autobots were a bunch of broke Space televangelist, going planet to planet saying "Hey do you believe in The Primes? If so please give us energon because if you don't Megatron will get'cha! Praise the Allspark!"
Hell it took 100 pages before a Decepticon even entered the scene. The book was boring and there was no real battles, just a lot of worry what would happen, a sorry combiner and some bitter pirates. The mythos regarding waring robots is not suppose to put you to sleep.
There's plenty of authors who could do a better job so protect Irving's honor all you wish. It's not going to land him a NY best seller any time soon.
kaijuguy19
Well they aren't cutting it for you obviuosly that doesn't mean the same for the rest of the fans.
Because Transformers Prime, the "Shrekformers" as you've midley put it is the closest thing you'll get to a more darker serious story. I'm all for a direct to video thing too but Hasbro is not going to relie on that alone.
That doesn't mean it won't happen. Most of the TF lore isn't broken at all. On the contrary,it's been made stronger by curent products. Saying that shows like TFP aren't mature is insane at best. The only true kiddie transformers show I can think of is the upcoming Rescue Bots show. Are you going to bash that show as well despite it actually being made for little children as well as the more matures shows like Transformers Prime?
Alex Irving's Bibles are some of the most intresting stories about the Transformers in years despite some mistakes. For someone who's "lame" like you said,he did a pretty darn good job at paying attention to the Mythos most important aspects.
YoungPrime
SMH, at end of the day. Watered down movies and cartoons tied to G1 characters currently aren't cutting it.
So I asked why they wont make a G1 Direct 2 video cartoons with a more adult them for the Transformer fan who craves more than what "Shrek-formers" has to offer.
To which people said "That wont work", "G1 is dead", "Kids will be confused" and "I'm being selfish"
Now fast forward to this thread and we see that there are some people with Hasbro or have ties there who feel the same way in which the depth of these characters and overall story can be a little more mature in detail. So obviously some of you still don't get it. So instead, you go tit for tat comparing G1 cartoons to TF: Prime when in reality I'm dreaming of something that's better than both. And that you can do this with out fixing key elements of TF lore that aren't broken.
And as a result to Matt Tieger's proposed direction for Transformers, it resulted in the removal of Alexander Irvine as author of the Transformer's so called "Bibles". Due to his lame perception of TF lore. (and boring ass stories)
SouthtownKid
Yeah, I don't deny that at all. But the key point is that Hasbro DID pull their retcon, so it makes High Moon's previous statements moot.
I can tell you why I think they continue to try and push it as "G1"-ish now: Marketing. They know that's what the hardcore fans — plus the general audience who will pick up a TF game based on nostalgia — prefer. It's what they want to buy.